The Enterprise-J participated in the historic Battle of Procyon V, wherein the forces of the Federation successfully drove the Sphere Builders back into their transdimensional realm. In 2154, as CaptainJonathan Archer of the Enterprise NX-01 was preparing to undertake a suicide mission to destroy the Xindi weapon in the Delphic Expanse, Temporal AgentDaniels transported Archer to the Enterprise-J to witness the battle. It was Daniels' hope that Archer could be convinced to abandon his suicide mission and attempt to make peace with the Xindi, informing Archer that, without him, the Federation would never come into existence and the Sphere Builders would remain unopposed. Archer was unconvinced, however, and demanded that Daniels return him to his own time. (ENT: "Azati Prime")

The Enterprise-J's exterior was seen only in the background in the form of graphics on a computer screen. A CGI model of the ship was built by production illustrator Doug Drexler. According to Robert Bonchune, "From what I understand, it was done quick and dirty, so was not really detailed in any way like a model we would use in multiple shots." [1] Drexler himself explained, "With two days before a production meeting [I had] to think fast and not obsess… especially since I wanted [Production Designer] Herman [Zimmerman] to be able to show a rendered animation of the ship in flight [....] If we had a few weeks, it would have finalized differently. As it was, the model was bashed out in a matter of hours." [X]wbm

One concept for this type of ship that came under consideration was the Altair-class, which had previously been submitted (without being approved) for both the USS Voyager and Enterprise NX-01. Doug Drexler recalled, "I would sleek it somewhat, and rebuilt it in Lightwave. No luck that time either (although the engines would end up on the approved J ship)." [X]wbm A computer-animated sequence showing the exterior of this design while in spaceflight was generated while the idea of using it as the Enterprise-J was still being considered. (The sequence can be viewed herewbm). [X]wbm Once the approved Enterprise-J saucer section was mated with the Altair-class wingship, the design became known as the Congo-class, which turned out to be another unapproved runner-up for the eventual Enterprise-J design. [X]wbm

An official class name for this type of ship has not been confirmed, although Doug Drexler approves of "Universe-class." [X]wbm He also estimates the length of the vessel as being about two miles. [X]wbm Drexler saw the Enterprise-J "as a multi-generational vessel, that had large parks, entertainment zones, and entire universities on board. The ship is so large that turbolifts would be replaced with site to site transporters. [It] had one deflector, recognizably descended from the NX. I opted for spindly nacelle struts because I felt it suggested a technology beyond what we were familiar with. They are beyond transwarp. They can fold space, and they are exploring other galaxies besides the Milky Way." [X]wbm

Set designer Lee Cole was involved in planning the Enterprise-J's interior, a task she considered "one interesting thing I did." She went on to relate, "That was really startling when they said 'OK, you're going to do a future ship that goes even further into the future.' We're already in the future, and now you have to think of what the future looks like 400 years ahead of Archer's future! This set looks like a big graphic design because it has all these plant-on panels in very intricate designs and from different sources of inspiration." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 152, pp. 42-43) The doors shown in the corridors aboard the Enterprise-J appear to be the same used aboard Deep Space 9.

Scenic artist James Van Over contributed to the design of the Enterprise-J's interior by rendering some on-board graphics. "We needed futuristic monitors, and Jim Van Over did some wonderful video for those," remembered Lee Cole. "I had circular monitor screens in different shapes, and when he put his stuff onto the television monitors it was quite a trick to get them to line up. But the finished product was amazing–his radiuses fit exactly inside my radiuses." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 152, p. 43)